Manchester indie band Pale Waves made the trip over to play the Academy Dublin on March 4th 2022 marking there first show in Ireland since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The evening started with an energetic set from Dublin natives just Just Wondering. Their catchy melodies mixed with a heavily percussive style was a wonderful warm up for the crowd who lapped up every second.
The setlist on the night included fan favorites from their 2 albums and even ventured further into their catalog to include ‘The Tide’, the first song they wrote as a band. Overall the setlist was the perfect mix of old and new, pleasing both old and new fans alike. Heather was a fantastic front woman keeping the crowd engaged throughout the set. For example, before ‘One More Time’ she said ‘ I thought you are Irish, you are meant to be loud’. Which of course prompted the crowd to belt the chorus of the song.
The bond between the band was clear from the start of the set with the tight instruments and great vocals complementing each other. Instrumental parts where the band would rock out together were particularly enjoyable to watch. The set was smooth sailing with slick transitions throughout the show.
The slowest song of the set ‘Odd One Out’ gave the crowd a chance to catch their breath with a great ballad before jumping straight back into the madness with a brand new song called ‘Jealousy’ with some straight up pop punk goodness. During ‘Red’ Heather even ditched the guitar to interact with the crowd as well as band mates Hugo, Charlie and Ciara. A pleasant change which allowed her to move a bit more freely.
They closed the night with two crowd favourites ‘ There’s a Honey’s and ‘She’s my Religion’ which gave a fitting end to wonderful night by a fantastically polished band. Make sure you catch them on their next tour.
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